


How Dare You, Draco Sodding Malfoy?!

by ladyroxanne21



Series: Punish Me [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 07:12:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9112180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyroxanne21/pseuds/ladyroxanne21
Summary: Harry's been proposed to by a good man, only Draco has asked him not to accept, which angers Harry.





	

Harry paused with the delicate little cup about an inch from his lips and swallowed the tea before he could accidentally spit it out in surprise. “Excuse me?”

“Don't marry him,” Draco repeated, looking into his own tea cup so that he could maintain an utterly smooth expression.

Harry frowned curiously. “And why not?”

“Because I don't want you to,” Draco admitted quietly.

Harry thought this through carefully for a moment, but the only thing that made any sort of sense was that Draco didn't want Harry to marry a man that made him happy, simply so that Harry would be available for Draco to play around with at some point. Harry set his cup down with enough force to break it as he stood up.

“Fuck you! You _had_ a chance to be with me and you threw it away! What in Merlin's raunchy hole makes you think I'd _ever_ give you another chance?!”

Draco paled and then flinched at Harry's words. “I know it's selfish of me but I was hoping...” He looked away to hide the flicker of emotion that crossed his face.

“ _You're married_!” Harry roared, and then shook his head. “And you have _no idea_ how badly it hurt when you left! It took me more than three years to recover! Why would I even _consider_ going through that again?!”

“Because I was an idiot who didn't know what I had until it was far too late,” Draco murmured so softly that Harry almost didn't hear him. He was still focused on his cup, which did nothing to hide the vulnerability he was trying so hard to conceal.

Harry growled in frustration, pulling on his hair. “Sorry, but that's just too bad for you. I'm not going to give up a very real chance at happiness so that I can have an affair with a man who shattered me so badly I didn't step a foot outside my house for so long that my best friends were seriously worried that I was going to completely ruin my daughter's life.”

“I'm so sorry,” Draco whispered, looking Harry in the eye for the first time since he'd blurted out his unreasonable request. “I didn't want to hurt you. You might recall that you asking me repeatedly to hurt you is exactly why I left.”

Harry pulled a trick out of Draco's book and purposely erased all emotion from his face before shrugging. “I'll admit that I was a mess back then. I wanted something from you that wasn't fair. I can understand why you left, and had you let me talk to you, we might have eventually reached an understanding. We might have been able to work things out, but you didn't. What hurt me the most was that you shut me out completely. You didn't give me a chance back then and I sure as hell won't give you a chance now.”

“But we're both different now,” Draco pointed out. “We've had time to heal; to grow up and become better men than we were.”

Harry held up his hands as if saying: stop right there. His fingers then curled slightly as if he was highly tempted to strangle Draco. “Even if I  _were_ willing to consider it,  _you're married_ !”

Draco shrugged indifferently. “It was an arranged marriage, and while I do love my wife, it's not that sort of love. We've talked it over and she has no problem with you and I becoming lovers again.”

Harry sighed in barely concealed frustration. “Yeah? Well I do!” He then turned to the house elf that was unobtrusively attending to them. “Tell Lily that she's going to be late if we don't leave right now.”

The house elf bowed respectfully before disappearing. Draco didn't say anything because he knew that there was nothing he could say at the moment that would change Harry's mind. The house elf reappeared a moment later with Lily in tow.

“I'm ready daddy.” She pointed to the shiny gold star on her right cheek. “See?”

Harry took her hand so that he could eventually Disapparate them. “I know you'll probably want to spend some time with Jeremiah tonight, but you can also come back here if you want.”

Lily grinned. “I think I'd like that! Draco, can I come over for a few hours after dinner?”

“Of course,” Draco replied with a warm smile. Despite his argument with Harry, he wanted his daughter to feel as if this was her home too.

Lily blew Draco a kiss just before Harry brought them to her school. He gave her a hug and kiss before watching her disappear into the school. Then he took a walk for a few minutes so that he would have time to calm down and just breathe before he returned to Jeremiah.

 

***

 

“Wow! This place is amazing!” Jeremiah exclaimed as he looked around Ron and George's shop.

“Of course it is!” George exclaimed with a grin. “Here, try one of these.”

Jeremiah took the pastry and ate it before Harry could protest. Sure enough, the muggle turned into a canary for a full minute before turning back. When he was a man once more, he exhaled in relief. “It took everything I had not to panic, but I was sure you'd turn me back eventually.” He gave Harry a kiss.

Harry smiled. “I should have warned you not to eat or drink  _anything_ that George gives you.” He gave Jeremiah a kiss in return.

“Oh nonsense!” George dismissed with a wave of his hand. “I almost never do anything like that anymore since it's far too predictable. Here, drink this.”

Jeremiah took the small bottle from George and drank it in a single gulp. Harry made a choking sound, incredulous that Jeremiah would take anything from George after what had  _just_ happened. Jeremiah promptly giggled as he floated about a foot off the ground. Since the shop was currently closed for a lunch break – a late one since it was a little after half one in the afternoon – and thus, not packed with a crowd, he had no problem diving to the side and pretending to swim through the air.

“Excellent!” George announced with an exceedingly satisfied grin. “I've _finally_ been able to prove that my Wheezes work on muggles too. I wasn't sure that they would, being muggles and all.”

“This is awesome!” Jeremiah called out gleefully. “It's a bit like working with bungees but better!”

Harry watched Jeremiah with a smitten smile as he swam around with astonishing ease. The more Jeremiah learned about the wizarding world, the more Harry thought that a marriage between them might actually work. Jeremiah was reacting to everything he saw much the same way Harry had the first time he was brought to Diagon Alley.

When they exited the shop a few minutes after the floating potion wore off, Harry and Jeremiah were holding hands and sneaking adoring little looks at each other. They strolled along in silence for a bit, each thinking their own thoughts. Suddenly, a little boy of about twelve broke free from his parents and ran over to Harry.

“Hello Harry Potter!” The boy greeted cheerily.

“Hello,” Harry returned the greeting with a patient smile.

“I just wanted to say thank you for coming back to England and proving to me and my friends that heroes really do exist. We all thought you were a myth, you know?”

“Er...” Harry droned awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with the hand that wasn't holding Jeremiah's. “Thanks...”

“I got special permission to spend a few days with my parents – which is why I'm not at Hogwarts,” the boy explained needlessly, slightly confusing Harry as to why this boy wanted to chat with him. “And I'm so glad I did since I got to meet you! Can you tell me why Lily stopped going to Hogwarts? She was the prettiest girl in our year, even if she _was_ sorted into Slytherin.”

Harry chuckled at that. “Let me guess, you're a Gryffindor, right?”

The boy went wide eyed in awe. “How did you know that?”

Harry chuckled some more. “Only a Gryffindor would be brave enough to walk up to Harry Potter and strike up a conversation about how pretty Lily is.”

The boy blushed at least ten shades of red. “Er... right...”

The boys parents finally gathered up the courage to approach Harry too. “Eli!” They chided sternly. “We're so sorry, Mr. Potter, we had no idea our son would dare to bother you.”

“Nah, it's alright. I love talking to young Gryffindors,” Harry admitted with a smile.

The boy's mother flushed and looked away. “I'm not sure you remember me, Mr. Potter, but my name is Marietta and I used to be part of Dumbledore's Army with you.”

“Ah,” Harry stated diplomatically. Now the she mentioned it, he did remember and recognize her, but since she had ratted them out to Umbridge, he was surprised that she'd brought it up.

“I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for turning traitor. I should have been braver.”

Harry simply shrugged. “Well, ultimately, everything turned out alright in the end, so don't worry about it.”

Marietta gasped in relief and seized Harry's free hand. “Thank you so much! You have no idea how much I've beaten myself up over the years for what I'd done!”

This had the effect of breaking whatever restraint the rest of the people in Diagon Alley had been showing. They all rushed in close.

“Harry! Do you remember me, I was two years behind you in Gryffindor!”

“Harry, thank you again for defeating _You-Know-Who_...”

“Harry, will you sign your chocolate frog card for my daughter?”

“Mr. Potter, would you ever consider teaching the DA again?” This was from Zacharias Smith, which surprised Harry.

He tilted his head to the side curiously as he looked at Zacharias. “Why would you ask that? You deserted the DA.”

Zacharias flushed in embarrassment. “That's true, I did, but I was just a frightened Hufflepuff. Since then, I've had time to think back and realize that I learned more about defending myself from you than I ever learned in seven years of Defense Against the Dark Arts class. I think our children should have the opportunity to learn from you too, even if there's no longer a Dark Lord trying to kill us all.”

“Hmm...” Harry stroked his chin as he thought this over. “You know, I never really thought about that before.”

“Oh oh!” People gasped out in excitement. “Please say yes!”

“It can be a summer camp!”

“I'd send my twins to you!”

“My daughter would _love_ to learn defense from _the Harry Potter_!”

“ _OI_!” A voice roared out over the clamoring. “Harry hates it when people crowd around him, so back up a bit and give him some space!”

“Hiya Neville,” Harry greeted with a relieved grin. The two hugged and patted each other on the back. Harry had visited Neville and his wife Hannah a couple of times in the Leaky Cauldron that Hannah now owned, but it had been at least two months since they'd last seen each other.

Hannah noticed how most of the crowd had taken a mere single step back and narrowed her eyes. “Free drinks at the Leaky for anyone who leaves Harry alone right now!”

This provoked delighted cheers from most of the crowd, who promptly left to go claim their reward. “Later Mr. Potter!”

Harry gave Hannah a hug and a kiss on her cheek. “Thanks Hannah.”

“No problem luv,” she stated with a soft smile. “But now I'd better go serve all those drinks I promised. I'll see you later.”

“Later,” Harry stated with a nod.

Neville turned to Jeremiah with a warm smile. “You must be Jeremiah. Harry told me a little about you, but he  _didn't_ mention the fact that you asked him to marry you. I had to hear it from Ron over drinks at the Leaky.”

“When did Ron have time to go drinking at the Leaky?!” Harry asked incredulously since the marriage proposal had only just happened yesterday. Jeremiah smiled and waved at Neville but didn't bother to reply since it was obvious that the friends were busy catching up.

“Earlier at lunch, of course,” Neville stated with a shrug and an amused smirk.

“Ah,” Harry snorted in amusement. “I'd have told you myself if I'd had any time, Nev. It only just happened yesterday.”

Neville clapped Harry on the back. “I know. Congrats mate!” Neville's grin faded a bit as he spotted something over Harry's shoulder. “Uh-oh...”

Harry turned to find Ginny running at him flat out. She flung herself into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and giving him a tight hug. “Harry! I just heard the news!” She squealed happily. “I'm  _so happy_ for you!”

Neville sighed in relief. “That's not how I thought you were going to react.”

Ginny raised a brow in confusion. “What, you thought that just because we used to date, I'd be mad at Harry for finding happiness?”

Neville sort of tilted his head side to side. “Well... yeah.”

Ginny snorted. “If I didn't get mad at Harry for choosing  _Draco sodding Malfoy_ over me, then  _why_ would I get mad at him getting engaged to a muggle?”

“Oi, I haven't said yes yet,” Harry reminded them, and then flushed because that sounded a bit bad. “Er, sorry Jeremiah.”

Jeremiah was watching them in amusement, feeling slightly better now that the oppressive crowd was gone. He'd been warned that people tended to treat Harry like the most famous person who ever lived, but even so, he hadn't quite been prepared to see it for himself. He'd only felt a flicker of jealousy when he realized that an  _ex-girlfriend_ of Harry's was hanging onto him quite intimately.

Ginny kissed Harry's cheek. “Well, no pressure, but mum is already planning a huge family dinner to celebrate.”

Harry chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Because you know how mum is?” Ginny asked with a giggle. “Now, have you seen Ron? There are a few things that I'd like to discuss with my brother.”

“You mean he wasn't the one who told you?” Harry wondered.

“Nope! Hermione,” Ginny stated with a grin.

Neville laughed. “Well, Ron was at the Leaky until just a few minutes ago, so he's probably back at the shop by now.”

“Gotcha!” Ginny stated, gave Harry another hug and a kiss on the cheek – which he returned – and then slid to the ground so that she could walk away. “And by the way, I expect you to attend my match against the Chudley Cannons this weekend, or I'll murder you in your sleep!”

“Who? Me or Neville?” Harry asked with a gulp of apprehension.

“Both!” Ginny called out even as she was walking away. 

“Then I guess I'll be there!” Harry called out in return as they waved at each other. He turned to Jeremiah. “That was Ron and George's sister Ginny. I used to date her back in Hogwarts.”

“So she was your first love?” Jeremiah asked curiously.

Neville snorted, and then had the grace to look apologetic when Harry frowned at him. “Sorry,” he grumbled, but then rolled his eyes at Harry. “But I am pretty sure that  _everyone_ knows that your first love was Malfoy.”

Harry flushed and looked away in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. “I never said he was my first love.”

“Mate, rumor has it that the two of you were shagging all over the castle!”

“It was one time!” Harry protested. “And the only reason anyone even knows about it was because a Third Year girl caught us!”

Neville laughed outright and pounded Harry on the back. “It was one time  _after_ the two of you dueled and then shagged in front of the upper half of both Gryffindor and Slytherin!”

Harry tilted his head side to side to admit that Neville was right.

Neville smirked. “And that was  _after_ you two shagged up against the wall in the Gryffindor common room and flustered Professor McGonagall!”

“Yeah...” Harry confirmed, definitely red from embarrassment. 

“And that was after you'd got caught shagging on the floor of the Slytherin common room by Professor Snape!” Neville added impishly.

“Alright alright! I get the picture!” Harry roared. “But what part of any of that makes you think it was love?”

“The part where you tracked down Malfoy the moment the war was over and invited him to live with you,” Neville stated with a shrug.

Harry was silent for a moment as he looked to the sky and rubbed the back of his neck. Then he sighed. “The thing about Draco is...” He fell silent and sighed again.

“What about me?” Draco asked since he had literally _just_ apparated into Diagon Alley and overheard that morose sentence.

Harry whirled around to glare at him. “I'm still fucking angry at you!”

Draco held up his hands in surrender. “I'm not here to make trouble. I just had a bit of shopping to do. Lily did such an excellent job with that Forgetfulness Potion this morning that I've decided to restock my lab and teach her  _all_ my favorite potions.”

Harry took a deep breath to calm down and bite back more frustrated arguments. “That's actually a good idea. You can teach her Potions while I teach her Charms and Hermione teaches her Transfiguration.”

“I can probably do Astronomy too, which just leaves Herbology, History, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Though I'm fairly sure that you've already started teaching her that – Mr. So-Heroic-That-Not-Even-The-Dark-Lord-Could-Kill-You.”

“You say that like it's a bad thing, Malfoy,” Neville stated with a frown.

“It's not, but it _was_ back when the Dark Lord was living in my house and threatening to kill my entire family if we didn't help defeat the sodding Boy-Who-Lived,” Draco stated with a shrug.

Neville made a sound like: huh! “You know, I never could figure out why you helped Harry when your family was best friends with Voldemort.”

Draco hissed in displeasure. “Don't say his name,  _Longbottom_ !”

Neville scoffed. “Why? What's he going to do, come back from the grave and Avada Kedavra me?”

Draco pulled out his wand. “Watch how you speak to me,” he practically spat.

Neville had his wand out half a second after Draco. “Or what,  _Malfoy_ ? Only one of us is a former Death Eater who'd go to Azkaban for hexing one of the heroes of the war!”

“Hero? _You_?” Draco asked with a sneer. “All you did was kill a snake!”

Neville practically leapt forward to punch Draco before remembering that he could just cast a hex instead. Draco had a shield up to deflect it in less time than it would take most people to think about doing so. Harry had a shield up to protect himself and Jeremiah too.

“Draco, stop being an arse,” Harry stated with a light glare.

Neville snorted in amusement. “He's a Malfoy; he wouldn't know how to stop being an arse if someone offered him a million Galleons to do so!”

“Not helping, Neville,” Harry muttered unappreciatively.

A startled gasp let them know that a new crowd of onlookers had replaced the ones that had gone to the Leaky earlier. “Harry Potter is going to duel Draco Malfoy!”

“No!” Harry blurted out hastily. “There's _not_ going to be a duel!”

“Why not?” Pansy asked with a positively evil smirk as she appeared out of the crowd and walked up to Draco. She kissed him on the cheek before resting an arm on his shoulder. “I – for one – wouldn't mind watching a repeat of your _last_ duel. Good afternoon, Draco love.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “That's never going to happen,” he said even as Draco returned Pansy's greeting and kiss on the cheek.

Pansy laughed outright. “I wouldn't be so sure about that! Don't you realize? If you spread the word that the two of you planned to duel, you could charge admission and raise a hefty amount of money for charity.”

Harry gave her a look of sheer disbelief. “What do  _you_ care about charity, Parkinson?”

Pansy scoffed. “I'm a pureblood, Potter.  _Of course_ I care about being seen as charitable.”

“Ah. For a moment there, I thought you might actually have a heart,” Harry muttered.

“ _Now_ who's being an arse?” Draco growled.

Pansy merely shrugged. Then she turned to address the gathering crowd. “Sorry to disappoint you all, but there will  _not_ be a duel by the  _precious savior_ , so you'd all best just shove off right now!”

“Are you trying to start a brawl?” Harry and Draco asked in unison. Sure enough, more than half of the crowd looked ready to hex her.

Pansy shrugged. “I could certainly use some excitement to liven up my day.”

Harry sighed in an attempt to rid himself of all negative emotions. Then he grabbed Jeremiah's hand and said: “See you later, Neville,” before Apparating them back to his house.

Pansy took a moment to cast a Muffliato around them, and then linked her arm through Draco's. “What was all that about?” She asked in concern.

Draco suppressed a morose sigh as he led her toward the Apothecary. “Harry's practically engaged to that muggle he was just giving a tour to.”

Pansy frowned in concern. “And...?”

Draco gave her a dark and significant look, but didn't say anything. Pansy looked taken aback for a moment. She narrowed her eyes and looked back towards the spot Harry had been standing before he Apparated.

“Still?”

Knowing that no one could hear him and that no one was paying much attention to them anyway, Draco sighed. “Yeah. I can't help it.”

Pansy squared her shoulders and gave him a  _look_ . “Well, then maybe you shouldn't have left him and married someone else.”

Draco half growled and half sighed. “I know! Merlin and Salazar, Pansy! Don't you think I've tried to ignore how I feel these past several months? I knew there was no chance he'd want me back, but when I saw that  _muggle_ ask Harry to marry him, I had to literally bite my tongue to stop myself from hexing the presumptuous bloke! I went home and pretended everything was alright until I was alone, and then I destroyed everything in the Crystal Room. Salazar's sweaty ball sack! I felt like I couldn't breathe!”

Pansy slipped her hand into his and gave it a comforting squeeze – the most she could do in public since Slytherins felt that emotional displays were a sign of weakness. “Oh love... Perhaps you should find a boy toy to play with to take your mind off Potter until you can finally get over him.”

Draco flushed and looked to his feet as he muttered. “For the first time in my life, Pans, I don't think I could get it up for anyone else if I tried.”

Pansy's first instinct was to stop walking and hug her best friend, but she knew that he wouldn't appreciate that in public, so she shrugged instead. “So bottom. Go to one of those kinky muggle sex clubs you've told me about and surrender yourself to a Dom.”

Draco shivered lightly in something close to anticipation as he thought about the suggestion. “Maybe I should.”

“You definitely should,” Pansy stated. “Whatever it takes to get that arsehole out of your system once and for all.”

Draco tilted his head side to side to indicate that she might be right, but didn't say anything. With a sigh of frustration – and a strange feeling of helplessness since she couldn't solve his problems for him – Pansy kissed his cheek. Then she said her goodbyes and left him alone with his thoughts when he arrived at the Apothecary.

 

***

 

Harry was in bed next to Jeremiah – who was sound asleep based on the volume of his snores. Only Harry couldn't sleep. He kept tossing and turning and punching his pillow in frustration. The more time that passed, the angrier he got.

Finally, with a soft growl of frustration, he got out of bed and marched into his en suite bathroom. After splashing his face with cold water did nothing to calm his mind, he finally gave into the urge to go throttle someone. The crack of Apparation only disturbed Jeremiah's sleep for a moment.

“Sssomething I can help you with, Potter?” Draco asked with a drunken slur.

Harry exhaled silently in relief because he had assumed that he'd have to demand a house elf go tear Draco from his wife's bed. He pulled his wand out but didn't cast anything more serious than insults.

“You arsehole! You unmitigated bastard! How _dare_ you!”

Draco tried to sit up straight but wobbled slightly in his chair. “How dare I wha?”

“Things were going great! I finally had everything I wanted in life – a beautiful daughter, a man who loves me, a bright future – and then _you_ had to go and open your selfish mouth!” Harry roared.

“Wha'd I say?” Draco asked, just a bit too drunk to recall why it was he had started drinking in the first place.

Harry aimed a minor blasting hex at the wall behind Draco, making him flinch. “You told me not to marry Jeremiah!”

“Looks like yer gonna anyway,” Draco muttered with a dark expression.

“Why shouldn't I?!” Harry demanded, sending another blasting hex at the wall.

“He's not goo' 'nough fer ya!” Draco insisted, getting to his feet and swaying for a moment before pulling out his wand and attempting to aim at Harry.

“How would you know?!” Harry asked incredulously. “Jeremiah happens to be a good man. He's funny, loving, kind, and great with Lily.”

“He's not me!” Draco roared, and then covered his stomach with one hand and turned rather green.

“Oh for the love of – Here!” Harry cast a sobriety charm on Draco, who groaned and clutched his head for a moment before sighing in relief and standing.

“Why did you even come here?” Draco demanded with a glare, pointing his wand at Harry but not casting anything.

“Because I want to strangle you or maybe hex you into oblivion!” Harry answered with a shout.

“No, I mean if you're so in love with that muggle that you're going to marry him, then why do you even care what I said?” Draco clarified.

“Because it pisses me off so much that I can't think clearly about anything else!” Harry yelled, casting a stinging hex at Draco, who managed to block it just in time.

Draco cast a tripping jinx in return. Harry decided that this meant that Draco was sober enough to participate in a proper duel, and dropped all concern about not hurting him. With a definite vengeance, Harry cast hex after hex, all some variety of blasting or stinging hex that would be painful but not fatal if they managed to hit Draco.

Draco was too busy defending himself at first to fight back, but then he felt like he got his feet back under him and started hurling hexes back at Harry. The two of them dueled far more fiercely than they ever had before – and that was including the time that Harry almost accidentally killed Draco. They were both so angry and emotional that they didn't even notice a good hour pass before they were panting from magical exertion.

Harry growled in frustration and shoved his wand back into his pocket so that he could grab Draco and throw him into the wall, which he followed up by trying to punch Draco. Except Draco anticipated this and blocked the punch. The two of them brawled – actually managing to hit each other as often as not – for quite some time before their anger managed to recede enough for their other dominant emotion to take over.

Almost exactly like when they were 16, something akin to sheer lust took over, prompting them to crash their mouths together – bloody noses, broken lips, and all.

Frantic kisses turned into a wrestling match on the floor; a struggle for dominance that both were determined _not_ to lose. During the struggle, they tore each other's clothes off, ripping them to shreds in the process. Eventually, Harry forgot why he was fighting and surrendered to Draco – who took full advantage of this by casting the appropriate spells to make sure that Harry wouldn't be hurt. He also cast a spell to make sure that Harry hadn't picked up any nasty surprises over the years.

By the time that Draco sank into Harry, both were so turned on that it took everything they had not to orgasm right then and there! Draco paused and rested his head on Harry's chest while Harry took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. When Draco moved next, it was as if the years had all melted away and they were 18 again; living together and shagging at every possible opportunity. Not even the discomfort of being on the floor was enough to deter them. In fact, it added to the reminiscence.

Draco slid his hands under Harry's shoulders to use them as leverage as he simultaneously thrust and kissed Harry. No one had ever kissed Harry like Draco and he felt like his mind went completely blank with pleasure with every kiss. Harry growled a bit as he scratched Draco's back to encourage him to thrust harder.

After only five short minutes, Draco felt like he was going to lose all control of his stamina. He was a little more than half ashamed at his lack of stamina, but it had been a while since he'd last had sex of any kind. However, he was determined to hold out until Harry orgasmed, so he did the one thing he knew would push Harry over the edge in mere seconds.

He wrapped his hands around Harry's neck and choked him for about 15 or 20 seconds. Rather than fight back – as one might expect – Harry shuddered happily and surrendered to the lack of air. It heightened his pleasure exponentially, triggering an orgasm almost instantly. His whole body felt tingly and like it was on fire as the world slowly went dark. Then he tried to cry out as he pumped out thick white stripes between them.

Draco let go of Harry's neck and grunted breathlessly as his own orgasm ripped through him hard enough that he nearly passed out. They lay there panting in the aftermath for a few minutes, neither wanting to move and trigger their brains to function again. Suddenly, Harry pushed Draco off him.

“Fuck!” Harry exclaimed just before he Disapparated.

Harry didn't even need to look around to know that he was back in his en suite bathroom. He had used it as a focus and so the cold tiles of the floor were all he needed to confirm that he was exactly where he thought he was. Harry lay flat on his back for a while with a hand over his face in an attempt to control his emotions. Eventually, he got rather cold and sat up so that he could curl his arms around his knees, and bury his head in his arms.

Jeremiah woke up a few minutes later when he turned to snuggle into Harry, only to find him gone. At first, he thought nothing of it – assuming that Harry had gotten up to go to the bathroom, but then he own bladder sent him urgent signals. Getting up, he padded barefoot and naked into the bathroom.

“Oh my god! Harry! Are you okay?” Jeremiah cried out in concern. He rushed over and dropped to his knees next to Harry.

Harry didn't respond at first, but after a moment, he looked up at Jeremiah – a man he did actually love and now felt terrible for cheating on. “I... I don't think I should marry you after all...”

Jeremiah frowned in confusion. “Uh... why not?” He took a careful visual inventory of all the bruises that now covered Harry – not to mention the puffy eyes and busted lip. It really looked like Harry had been in a naked brawl.

Harry sighed in profound depression. “Because history has proven once again that I end up cheating on whoever I'm with... With Draco...”

Jeremiah frowned even deeper. “Cheating...? Harry! Did Draco do this to you?!”

Harry huffed in annoyance. “What? This? This isn't even important since it happened during our fight. He looked the same before I left.” Harry summoned his wand – probably from wherever his torn clothes had landed in Draco's study – and then used it to cast a healing charm or two on his face and neck. A quick glance showed him that there was a gorgeous bruise on his chest too, which he rubbed almost lovingly.

“Harry... getting rid of the evidence doesn't make it right,” Jeremiah murmured, referring to Draco beating Harry up.

“I know, I'm sorry,” Harry murmured sadly, thinking that he was referring to the cheating. “I shouldn't have gone over there, but I was just so angry at him. I wanted to hurt him, but – just as always happens – our duel turned into a brawl, and our brawl turned into sex. He's the only one that knows exactly how much I like to be hurt during – er, well...”

Jeremiah tilted his head in confusion. “Wait, we've been occasional lovers for years, and you're just _now_ telling me that you like to be hurt during sex?”

Harry shrugged. “I didn't want to scare you away, especially since we weren't serious about each other before.”

Jeremiah sighed and sat next to Harry, taking one of Harry's hands in his. “First of all, you haven't said yes to me, so you haven't actually cheated on me. I'm _not_ saying I like the idea of you having sex with anyone else, but you didn't technically do anything wrong. I'm _certain_ that it wouldn't have happened if you _had_ said yes.”

Harry frowned at that. “But... Well, when I was dating Ginny, I cheated on her with Draco. I didn't even think about it until after it had happened. See, with Draco, my brain just stops functioning until after we're done. He could probably tell me to murder a kitten at that point and I'd do it – but don't tell him I said that, no need to give him ideas.”

“Do you love him, Harry?” Jeremiah wondered.

Harry sighed heavily. “I don't know. I used to, but he hurt me so badly... It took me years to stop being depressed and move on.”

“Okay,” Jeremiah murmured in understanding. “Well, what about me? Do you love me?”

“I do in many ways, but I'm just not sure if I love you in the _right_ way,” Harry admitted with an expression like he was sure Jeremiah was going to start yelling at him.

“Harry, do you remember me telling you that I'd been married once before?” Jeremiah asked.

“Yeah,” Harry replied with a light frown of confusion.

“Well, I was married to my highschool sweetheart. She was the love of my life, always so vibrant and vivacious, but she was also an addict. For five years, I tried everything I could to help her kick her meth addiction, but every single time she got clean and I thought that things would finally get better, she'd fall off the wagon again and they'd get worse than ever. I finally couldn't take it anymore and got divorced – thank _God_ we didn't have any kids!”

Jeremiah paused to take a deep and cleansing breath. “I know that if I saw her now, I'd feel a rush of all the same old feelings. The love, the lust, the intense need to help her be a better person, but I also know that it would be fruitless. Getting back with her would do nothing but hurt me.”

He pulled Harry's hand to his lips and gave it a kiss. “On the other hand, you and I have a solid friendship. We have love. We have passion. We have all the things that make for a _good_ marriage. So please, don't throw me away just because you don't think you can ever truly get over a man that hurt you and is clearly no good for you.”

Harry was silent for a moment as he thought this over. “The thing is... I'm afraid... What if I marry you and do my absolute best to stay away from Draco, only I end up cheating on you. Then, not only will I be in the same situation with the same problems, but I'll have hurt you and probably utterly ruined the wonderful relationship we have.”

“Yes, I will admit that if you cheated on me, that would totally suck!” Jeremiah sighed morosely. “But I would rather be married to you and happy 80 to 90 percent of the time than not married to you and miserable _all_ the time.”

Harry gave him an incredulous look. “Even now?! Even _knowing_ everything you've learned over the past few days? You still want to marry me?”

Jeremiah gave him a tender kiss that turned into a somewhat heated swirling of tongues. When he pulled back, he smiled with an expression of pure love. “Yes. I still want to marry you – even if it means living in a slightly creepy old house with talking paintings and wrinkly little mutants that grumble about muggle filth as if I can't hear him.”

Harry took a deep breath, a slow smile spreading across his lips before dying again. “I still need to think about it. I'm not sure that it would be fair to marry you...”

Jeremiah gave Harry a tiny smile as he put on a brave face. “Take your time.”

Harry gave him a light kiss. “Thank you.”

 


End file.
